


How Do You Figure

by vexutopia



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Fluff, Homophobia, Hurt Derek Morgan, Hurt Spencer Reid, Implications of child abuse, M/M, Spencer Reid - Freeform, Spencer Reid Whump, Whump, William Reid - Freeform, criminal minds - Freeform, mlm
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:21:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27874494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vexutopia/pseuds/vexutopia
Summary: A case hits too close to home for Spencer.
Relationships: Derek Morgan/Spencer Reid
Comments: 8
Kudos: 77





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i am not sure if i will ever write a fic that is not horribly sad

The team was heading to Vegas for a case involving some pretty gruesome details when Reid pulled his scarf off his neck absentmindedly, revealing the string of hickeys that traveled well below his collar. Hotch’s eyes flickered up at the movement, but they snapped away just as fast. Morgan was the first one to speak. He reached out and touched his fingers to Reid’s chin.

“No way, kid!” He laughed, “I’d hate to see the other guy.”

Reid’s neck went a dark red as he quickly wrapped the scarf back around the pale column that was his neck. He said nothing at first, even as the team stared at him for an explanation. JJ looked shocked and curious, especially since Reid shared everything with her. This was new. This was shocking.

“I’d rather not speak of it,” he said simply, before pressing his hands to either side of his neck, stopping Morgan from pulling at the fabric.

They’d lay off for now, but Reid knew they would want answers. When Hotch paired Morgan and Reid up, there was a clear sense of jealousy from the other’s, who figured Morgan would be the first to interrogate Reid into answering him. Once they slid into the front of the SUV, Reid huffed and threw the scarf to his lap, groaning as he pressed his hands to his face.

“That was so embarrassing!”

Morgan laughed, “I really did some damage, huh? Should we give them more to gossip about?”

“Derek!” Spencer scolded, “It’s bad enough they’ll be asking me millions of questions because of the marks I have now. I’ve always been so careful, I knew we should have stopped at the drugstore!”

“Pretty boy, I am sure if you tell them it’s nothing, they’ll believe you.” Morgan could hardly get it out without laughing his head off.

Reid gave him a glaring look before he turned his head away. The first crime scene they were to be sent to was the aftermath of someone being completely taken apart. A jogger had found the body parts of a young man scattered across a lesser-traveled path in the park. Animals had gotten to some of him, but he was intact well enough to be identified as a man who had been missing for six months. His husband reported him missing the morning after he did not return from the casino in Vegas. Reid felt terrible for him. He couldn’t imagine losing Morgan in such a gruesome way. All four victims who had been found so far were gay men from Vegas who moved away, all for various reasons.

“He dumped him here,” Reid crouched down to look at the tire marks, “Forensics already ruled that these are from the van that dumped his body. These killings are clearly hate crimes. We should have Garcia look into any online hate groups about gay men in Vegas.”

“That’s oddly specific,” commented Detective Morstorn, the man who tagged along.

“You’d be surprised how many hate groups turn to online chat rooms as their means of communications. There’s an entire site dedicated strictly to finding groups of people who hate the same thing you do. It can be something as simple as mayo, or even something terrible and extreme like the color of someone’s skin. Ther—” 

“Reid.” Morgan interrupted, “Why don’t we head to the station? We should review the photos and see if there’s a pattern.”

Morstorn sent him a thankful look as Reid nodded and walked towards the car. The ride to the station was quiet mostly, except when Morstorn asked if they’d been to Vegas. Reid had talked about how he grew up in Vegas. As it turned out, he and Morstorn went to the same high school. When Morstorn tried to reminisce about those days, Reid seemed closed off and irritated.

Morgan would have to figure out what was bothering him.

  
  
  


JJ and Prentiss were already at the station, while Rossi and Hotch were off at the coroner’s office. When Reid and Morgan returned, JJ and Prentiss were just finishing about the crime board. They’d laid out a map for Reid, complete with a red marker. They knew how much he liked doing the geographical profile and decided to save it for him. Morstorn stood off to the side as if he weren’t quite there, and when Hotch came back, the detective was first to greet him. 

“I think Dr. Reid was saying something about looking online,” Morstorn said suddenly as if trying to push himself into the silence of their brainstorm.

“Oh, yes. Garcia, our technical analyst, is faxing some things over to me. Screenshots she found on the websites about the victims. Most users operate under pseudonyms to make themselves harder to find.” Reid explained as he stood up straight, “Garcia says there’s a user that stood out.”

“Who, Reid?” Hotch asked.

“Fyodor Dostoevsky. Of course, we aren’t talking about the author who died in the 1800s,” Reid laughed, earning an odd look from Morstorn before he continued, “But someone is operating under this name. The odd part is they only mention the victims after they’ve been found.”

“Why is that strange?” Morstorn asked.

“You’d expect a person in that sort of chat room to want to take the credit,” Hotch explained with his arms folded, “The people in these chat rooms are often narcissistic. They’ll do anything to be able to be praised for what they’ve done.”

“But we still look at these men in case there’s a different direction we could take it in,” JJ added.

“How do you figure it’s a man?” Morstorn asked, his voice pointed. 

“Straight men are more likely to be violent towards gay men,” Reid walked over the screaming fax machine and retrieved the papers. 

Detective Morstorn took a paper and cleared his throat, “Aren’t there usually signs of sexual assault with these cases?”

“Usually,” Prentiss shrugged, “We theories that whoever is committing these murders, and I agree it’s likely a man, has repressed feelings of his own homosexuality. And instead of acting on them violently, he’d rather kill those comfortable with their sexuality.”

“Oh.” Morstorn paged through the papers he was handed, “Can your computer girl trace these IP addresses?”

“Oh, she’s already thought of that,” Reid smiled a little, “She said she’d send over the IPs after the fax gets here.”

“I don’t get why you can’t go paperless like the rest of us.” Morgan teased as he hung up the map on the board.

“I prefer to write things down. Not type them out.” Reid adjusted his scarf, “Oh, there was something that I noticed.”

Eyes turned to him.

“Well,” Reid pushed his hair behind his ears and cleared his throat, “This unsub seems to want his victims to be found, obviously, but has anyone else noticed how far apart some of the body parts are? So far the victims have been discovered because of a left leg, a right one, a left arm, and a right one. It seems to me like these body parts are like puzzle pieces to him.”

“You don’t think he’s trying to build a guy?” Morgan recoiled.

“He’d keep body parts if he were. Although, if a puzzle piece doesn’t fit with your puzzle, obviously you set it aside and go looking for a piece that does fit. I think there are more victims we have yet to find.” Reid looked around the room, “I think our unsub is building himself what he feels is the perfect guy. So maybe, just maybe, we need to stop focusing on these negative chat rooms and go to more positive ones. I mean, all of the victims went missing from places gay men often frequent in Vegas.”

“A straight guy would stand out,” Morgan said.

“Like a sour thumb,” JJ said, and Prentiss agreed.

“So you were wrong before?” Morstorn looked confused, “Is the guy gay or not?”

“Both are possibilities.” Hotch sighed, “All four victims, as Reid said, have gone missing from places homosexual men frequent. Our first two victims both went missing within thirteen minutes of each other.”

“Morgan and I could go interview the bartenders?” Reid offered, “See if they saw anything out of the ordinary?”

“Rossi and I already hit the casino, so yes, that’s a good idea.” Hotch nodded, “Prentiss and JJ, I want you to try and infiltrate these chat rooms. Have Garcia set you up with an account. See if you can get—”

“Fyodor Dostoevsky,” Reid supplied.

Hotch nodded firmly and continued, “—to side with you.”


	2. Chapter 2

The club was not Reid’s scene, but Morgan was used to this. The dancers were getting ready for later that night, and Reid shielded his eyes from their revealing outfits, so Morgan steered him towards the bar. The man cleaning out the glasses looked at them, eyes on Morgan for a moment, but he looked away when he saw Reid move closer to him.

“Can I help you?” He asked as they approached.

“Yes. Can we talk to you about the men who have gone missing?” Reid said, not needing to yell because there was no music, “One of them went missing from here.”

“Oh yeah. Johnny. He was a regular here,” the bartender’s eyes turned to Morgan, “You’re not from afraid here, are you?”

“No, no I’m not. But I’m not interested,” Morgan leaned on the counter, “You knew Johnny well?”

“I did. He and I had a little dancing act together here. Johnny and Cas. Obviously, I’m Cas,” he gestured himself, “I loved Johnny.”

“Have you noticed anyone odd or suspicious here?” Reid questioned, subtly tugging at Morgan’s shirt.

“Sometimes we get guys who experiment. Or older guys who want younger men. Sometimes we get minors too.”

Reid frowned.

“Obviously we kick them out. I can spot anyone who doesn’t belong here. Like how I know you guys are a couple,” Cas tapped the side of his neck with his finger, “Those are cute.”

Reid looked away and adjusted his scarf quickly. Morgan laughed a little, then leaned both elbows on the counter.

“Was Johnny with anyone the night he went missing?”

“Yeah,” Cas’s expression was neutral despite the emotion that filled his eyes, “I can show you the cameras.”

Cas led them to the backroom. He held the beads out of the way as the two agents stepped into the room. He queued up the night Johnny went missing. He focused on Johnny, and Reid frowned for a moment, watching him dance over a well-built man who guided his movements. Cas held a hard, fierce expression as he walked out of the room. Reid watched him go, then he and Morgan watched as Johnny stumbled along with the man. Reid’s eyes flickered to another screen as he watched Cas watch them go.

“He loved him,” Reid whispered as he looked to Morgan.

Morgan nodded. He tapped some keys and went back a few days. They saw the same guy again, and after speeding through, they found he left with three different men who had not been found. Cas sent the footage over to Garcia, who would analyze and make it as clear as possible for them. When Reid and Morgan made it back to the office, Prentiss and JJ were there.

“There are other men who have gone missing,” Reid pushed his hair behind his ears, “Cas, the bartender at the bar, he says the man who Johnny was last seen with is a regular.”

JJ’s tablet buzzed then, and she checked the message Garcia sent over. She’d been able to enhance the photo of the man at the club, but his message didn’t match any face in the database. 

“It might be best to go undercover,” Morstorn said, and everyone turned to him, “To try to trick him.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Hotch looked at the team, then looked to Morgan and Reid, “You two can go undercover then. We—”

“We go undercover sometimes!” Morstorn said suddenly, “We have plenty of clothes for it. Though most of them are from the ‘80s.”

JJ quirked a brow, “We can make do with what we have.”


End file.
